ACM 221: Apple’s New iPhones, a Curious Chinese Media Event, and a Tip

Apple just announced the long-rumored iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. Jeff and Bryan talk about naming conventions, which device they like, and they both want to know why Apple bothered with the 5c when it costs so much. Speaking of much ado about nothing, they're also curious about Apple's so-called media event in China. Better yet, Melissa Holt surprises them with a Quickie tip.

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“they both want to know why Apple bothered with the 5c when it costs so much”

I can guess why…

Manufacturing and assembling the iPhone 5/5S turned out to be much more cost prohibitive (with low yields) than they originally thought - affecting margins.

Rather than continue to try and pump out two models at these costs, they decided they had better create something that used all the internals of the original iPhone 5, but was much easier and therefor cheaper to build. This had nothing to do with lowering the price (it’s the same price the 5 would’ve been), and had everything to do with releasing a mass market device to reach even more customers on new carriers at a quicker pace.

That, and it doesn’t hurt to diversify your product lines to reach a larger audience.

I also tend to think that the price for the “plastics” will come down significantly next year (due to highly automated manufacturing and assembly),